Breaking Down the Home Buying Process

There are a variety of opportunities in the South Florida real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

What’s the difference between a pre-qualified letter, a pre-approval, and a loan commitment? I can sum them up for you fairly easily.

A pre-qualified letter is just that: a pre-qualification. You speak to a bank and give them some initial financial information. Based on that information, they write you a letter. While it’s typically not very meaty, it might be just what the listing Realtor or the seller is looking for.

A pre-approval means that you’ve spoken to a lender and given them more asset information. The pre-approval letter is far more substantive and is only contingent on finding you a house. It’s a nice, strong letter that’s supposed to get the seller’s attention.

"Pre-approval is a strong letter that's supposed to get the seller's attention."

A loan commitment means the house you want to buy is under contract. Through talking with your lender, you’ve given them all the information that they needed in order to give you a loan. Based on your financials, they are providing you a loan commitment letter stating that they’re ready to give you the money you need to settle on the house. This letter means that, regardless of any outstanding title or insurance factors, they are committed to giving you the loan.

After that, you’re ready to buy your house. Keep the questions coming! Also, feel free to give me a call if you need information regarding further details.

How We Found Joe a House He Fell in Love With

Tell me about your experience working with The Simmonds Realty Team.

"The results were unimaginable. Our agent, Lee, spent a couple days showing us some very beautiful homes in the Jupiter area. The last day before my wife and I flew back to New York he got us into a house that we fell in love with. Subsequently, he went back to his office to put an offer on it. No exaggeration, within 26 days we went from having an accepted offer to closing on the home. Being from New York, that's unheard of! Buying a house in New York usually takes 90 days. These guys were able to do it in 26 days. It was a fabulous experience!"

To contact the Simmonds Realty Team, call 561-427-6100 or email john@simmondsteam.com.

Beware of Zillow's Home Estimates in Jupiter

There are a variety of opportunities in the South Florida real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

As a real estate professional, I'm continually bombarded by the question, "Why does Zillow price my Jupiter home differently?"

If we go on Zillow's website, they say that the Zestimate is created by an automatic software process designed by statisticians, and there is no ability for humans to manually alter the Zestimate for a specific property.

To make that more clear, let's say a home is estimated to be worth $500,000. If the Zestimate is off by 10%, that's a difference of $50,000! If the home is under-priced, you're missing out on tens of thousands of dollars. If your home is overpriced by 10%, it will sit on the market for awhile, and you might have to drop the price, causing buyers to wonder what's wrong with the home.

It's been estimated that Zillow's home estimates are only right 7% of the time. That means that they are wrong 93% of the time! That is a terrible success rate.

Remember, Zillow can't take features or upgrades on your property and compare them to other recently closed homes in your area, even though doing so gives you a more updated value on your property. Zillow doesn't walk through your home, and that's where my team can come in and place an accurate value on your home with a comparative market analysis.

"A Realtor is your best bet for an accurate home value."

Ultimately, if you want the most accurate price for your home, make an appointment with a real estate professional. Skip the nonsense and have a real estate professional find the true market value of your home. We will factor in the condition, location, upgrades, and amenities of the home in order to find it. If you have any questions about how we can do that for you, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to help!

If you have any questions, or if you're interested in a home valuation, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

How We Impressed Ryan by Being Attentive

Tell me about your experience working with The Simmonds Realty Team.

"They were excellent. Very efficient. Probably the smoothest process I've gone through even buying a car, definitely buying a house. They made it so easy. Their recommendations with a mortgage company was excellent as well. Every task they had, I'd send an email and within minutes get a response, after hours, 8 or 9 o'clock at night, almost immediately. Really attentive to their clients, that's for sure."

To contact the Simmonds Realty Team, call 561-427-6100 or email john@simmondsteam.com.